Here Are The Pros And Cons Of Very Low Calorie Diets

You may be wondering whether very low calorie diets are the solution when it comes to losing weight. You probably already know that there are lots of various theories and ideas regarding diets and losing weight, and the experts don't even agree on what is best. For the kinds of diets that cut your calorie intake drastically, normally only those who are very obese are recommended to go on them, not those who want to just shed some weight. You may find the information in this article useful if you are considering going on a very low calorie diet.

Before embarking on a very low calorie diet you should consult your doctor. This can be a dangerous diet for some groups of people, including those with certain medical conditions, children, the elderly and women who are pregnant or breastfeeding.

There are some natural diets out there that severely limit your calorie intake, however most very low calorie diets have specially prepared formulas to make sure you don't go over your calorie limit. One option is a raw foods diet, where you eat only foods that are uncooked and unprocessed. As you won't be eating any foods that are processed, all of the modern high calorie junk will be avoided, so a strict raw foods diet will normally be very low in calories.

You can make your own raw food versions of foods, like bread by using a dehydrator, however a raw food diet will normally consist of fruits, sprouts, nuts and vegetables. Lots of people find it rather difficult to stay on track with this kind of diet because eating most everyday foods is forbidden, however this is considered to be healthy. Adding some more raw foods into your very low calorie diet might be something that you want to do, even if you're not so keen on having a 100% raw diet.

From the point of view of overall fitness, very low calorie diets have serious drawbacks. You will lose muscle as well as fat because you are restricting calories which can be unhealthy for a few reasons. As there will be a lack of calcium and dairy with this diet, osteoporosis is a risk for woman on the diet. The lack of energy is a problem with this diet which means that you might not have enough to work out and keep your muscle mass up. Anemia can be a risk in some cases. From this you can see that if you are an average person the diet is not for you, but if you are obese then it is good to be on a very low calorie diet.

There are no guarantees when attempting any diet, some of these are intense and supervision from your physician would be a good idea; but if you doctor gives you the go ahead, then go for it. There are a couple of alternatives, some that we have viewed in this piece. When picking a diet, give your choice great thought and do a little investigation into its qualities.